APRA to publish super fund expense data

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) will further increase transparency in superannuation by publishing new data on how members’ funds are being spent and invested by trustees.

The move follows a consultation with industry late last year in which APRA sought feedback on proposals to treat most of the data it now collects on fund expenses and detailed asset allocation information as ‘non confidential’ and, therefore, available for publication. 

The new expenditure data to be published from August 2024 will provide details on:

• the breakdown of expenses for the whole industry, and for each fund, by more detailed categories including administration, advice, member services, marketing, trustee board (including director remuneration), and other corporate overheads (such as travel and entertainment); and
• recipients of payments made by each fund to industrial bodies and related parties, in relation to promotion, marketing or sponsorship expenses and any political donations.

APRA will also publish further details on the type of investments the industry holds in relation to property and infrastructure, alternative strategy funds, listed equity and private equity.

Deputy Chair Margaret Cole said: “The new data will shed further light on how trustees are spending and investing the funds entrusted to them by members.

“I am pleased to acknowledge that the industry has been broadly supportive of APRA’s proposals to provide greater transparency on the use of member funds.

“Through our Superannuation Data Transformation project, APRA will continue to expand the breadth, depth and quality of our data on superannuation, and to publish as much of this data as possible.”

A copy of APRA’s Superannuation Data Transformation publications and confidentiality response letter is available on the APRA website: Superannuation data transformation publications and confidentiality response.